The pop culture world is united in grief today at the loss of David Bowie, who passed away last night. Tributes have poured in across the world in mourning—including director James Gunn who, in his own touching tribute, revealed that Bowie was in talks for for an appearance in the Guardians sequel.

According to Gunn, Marvel movie producer Kevin Feige floated the idea of Bowie appearing in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 for a cameo role. But Gunn had heard that Bowie was unwell (the star privately battled cancer for 18 months, something not known until his passing today), and expected him to decline, only for Bowie to come back to Marvel and say he’d be up for a role:

Just a very short while ago Kevin Feige and I were talking about a cameo role in Guardians Vol. 2, and he brought up Bowie’s name. I told him nothing in the world would make me happier, but I heard from common friends he wasn’t doing well. We heard back that he was okay and it could potentially happen. Who knows what that was about?

Although sadly a cameo is not to be, Bowie could still play a minor part in the film, through its licensed soundtrack. The first Guardians featured “Moonage Daydream” from from Ziggy Stardust on its wildly popular “Awesome Mix Volume One,” and Gunn had planned to include another song from the album in the sequel’s follow up, making Bowie the only artist to feature in both films. Gunn said he cut the scripted sequence that included the song, he’s going to attempt to include it in the movie elsewhere.

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What better tribute to a man who championed the alien than to have Bowie’s music blaring out into the Marvel cosmos? You can read Gunn’s tribute to David Bowie in full on his Facebook page, linked below.